Conversations on Dress Webinar Series on Ann Lowe
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
7:00 p.m. Eastern / 4:00 p.m. Pacific
FREE webinar, open to all
Wintherthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware presents Ann Lowe: American Couturier, a retrospective of this forgotten African American fashion designer. The curatorial team (Kim Collison and Alexandra Deutsch) worked with Elizabeth Way of the Museum at FIT to select garments for the exhibition, which were then sent to the conservation team at Winterthur. Katherine Sahmel and Heather Hansen meticulously stabilized and properly mounted each ensemble. Lowe famously designed Jacqueline Bouvier’s wedding dress (and the bridal parties’) to her marriage to JFK. Due to its value and condition, the dress is not allowed to be exhibited, and so the curators asked designer and UD professor Katya Roesle to recreate the wedding gown. She enlisted several students to help in the recreation process, during which they learned many of Lowe’s signature couture techniques and learned valuable insight into her skills as a designer, draftswoman, and seamstress.
From the JFK library in Boston, the archives at FIT, to the sprawling 175 room former estate of Henry Francis Du Pont. Through this three-part series, discover what it took to mount the first retrospective of this significant (though often forgotten) American fashion designer and pioneer, Ann Lowe. Join us to explore the who, how, and why behind the exhibit, from the passionate academics bringing Lowe from the servants entrance to the grand ballroom.
In the third and final installment we will walk the exhibition live with curators Kim Collison and Alexandra Deutsch. Besides showing off gorgeous garments, they will be discussing methodology, highlight struggles, reception and more.
Click here to register for Part Three!
Click here to view the recording of the first webinar in the series. Katya Roesle, Instructor and Director of Design and Creative Marketing Certificate Program, University of Delaware, and Alex Culley, Student at University of Delaware discussed the recreation process of Jackie Kennedy’s dress with the designer and their student participant. See behind the scenes at the design studio at UD and learn what they discovered about Ann Lowe, the research process, and more.
Click here to view the recording of the second webinar in the series. Our host and moderator, Graham Wetzbarger, CSA VP of Technology, speaks with Elizabeth Way, Katherine Sahmel, and Heather Hansen about garment selection, research, mounting of the exhibition, and the conservation process.
